The Sleeper
by Chosen Dragon
Summary: When the citizens of Ponyville begin go missing, including the Mane 6, and Spike has strange dreams, he feels he's the only one who knows what's happening and can stop it. My first story, written for a MLP FiM newspaper on a site called Chicken Smoothie.


The library was a quiet place. It smelled, comfortingly of paper, ink, glue, and stories. Today, it also smelled of smoke.  
>"Spike!" Complained Twilight Sparkle, clopping her hooves "I told you to get some medicine for your cold! You're lucky you didn't hit any of the books.<br>Spike sniffed into his handkerchief. "I'm sorry Twilite! Dagon sneses a uncondrolible. Achoo!"  
>They both looked at the smoking remains of the handkerchief and the large burn mark of the floor from earlier. Twilight sighed, exasperated.<br>"You know I love you like a little brother Spike, but I can't have a sneezing dragon near my books. Besides, you need your rest."  
>"Awww... but Twilite..!"<br>"No buts Spike. Go to the back room and sleep."  
>Pouting, the little dragon dragged his feet through the door. Twilight watched it for a while, then smiled, sighed and went back to work.<br>On the other side of the door, however, Spike grumbled "Like a liddle bruder, huh? Ge careds more abou her predous buks den me."  
>Then, as children are want to do, Spike crawled into his bed and fell asleep.<p>

Somewhere, high in the mountains, something else was sleeping. It had been sleeping for so long, the rock had grown over it, for so long, its mind had become part of the living earth itself, for so long, it had forgotten what it felt like to be awake.  
>But it was just about to remember.<p>

"Spike?" the name was little more than a whisper as Twilight carefully climbed the stairs to her bed and Spike's basket. "Sorry about yelling at you earlier. Spike? You awake...oh."  
>A smile crept over the unicorns face at the sight of Spike curled up in his basket, small green sparks on his every exhale. The pink glow of magic surrounded the blanket as Twilight pulled it up over her assistants little frame.<br>"See you in the morning."  
>Then Twilight climbed into her own bed and closed her eyes.<p>

And while all of Equestria slept, something woke. It began with a slight shaking of a large hump of rock in the middle of the cave. Then a small network of cracks appeared on a round bulge near what might be called the front of the rock. The cracks took on a roughly straight semblance, the with great ceremony, the two semi circular sheets began to slide apart, chipping away at the edges of the budge. Beneath the sheets of rock, an iris narrowed in the pale moonlight.

It was a gorges day. The sun was shining in the cloudless sky and the wind was creating a soothing rustling sound in the long grass. Spike was sitting on a checked picnic blanket munching happily on a sapphire. Twilight and her friends were all there at the picnic. Rainbow was turning loop-the-loops while Pinkie bounced along below her. Fluttershy had found a nest of birds in a nearby tree and was striking up a conversation. Twilight was complimenting Applejack on her pie. And best of all (for Spike, at least) Rarity was sitting next to him on blanket.  
>"Beautiful day, isn't it?" She sighed.<br>Spike looked at her "Not more beautiful than you"  
>Rarity gave him a glowing smile "Oh, Spike..."<br>Then, the perfect day became less perfect.  
>Clouds rolled over the glowing sun, the wind became cold and the grass whispering sounded more evil then pleasant.<br>All activities stopped and all heads turned, without even knowing what they were turning to. But they would soon find out.  
>A dark form rose from the grass, cloaked in shadow. If Spike didn't know better, he'd say it was a dragon. But it was the hugest, oldest, most malign looking dragon ever. Even though only the outline could be seen, there was a pair of bat wings, a tail, a snout, four legs, and a pair of yellow eyes, the only detail that could be made out.<br>... And yet, there was something unusual about it. Instead of smooth scales, it was covered in a angular, lumpy surface. It's body was thick and short tailed, unlike the long, lean dragons the ponies knew. And the eyes... they were cold and deep, like an ancient cave. And the eyes were locked on Spike.  
>A scream broke the stare. Rarity scrambled backwards, away from the shadow, whose eyes were now fixed on the ponies.<br>It whispered one word "Blight."

Then it attacked.  
>Deep furrows were plowed by its claws as it slashed at the place the ponies had been, but they were already scattered. It went after Rainbow and Fluttershy first, who had retreated to the air. A swipe with its claws missed, the pegasi dodged, so did the quick follow-up. It was time for plan B.<br>The huge wings unfolded to their true extent, small bits of something chipping off them, each one as long as the body itself and the shadow launched itself in the air.  
>"Come ON Fluttershy!" Rainbow rasped as she dragged Fluttershy whimpering behind her. "We need to go FASTER!"<br>But they weren't going fast enough. The great shadow reached out one claw and grabbed them. Fluttershy screamed, high and piercing, and Rainbow swore and fought. But it was no use and the claw that held them was strong.  
>The shadow landed again, lightly, head scanning for its next targets. It found them in short due.<br>"You let 'em go, now!" Applejack and Pinkie were around its legs, Applejack bucking fiercely and Pinkie banging her hard head into its ankle. It raised its foot to step on them, but the earth ponies dodged easily.  
>They were about to go for another pass, when the creature's other hand came down on top of them, caging them. Then it drew them up in the same grip as is had Rainbow and Fluttershy.<br>"No!" Shouted Twilight and a beam of pinkish light shot from her horn. The shadow roared as it was hit. Then its maw opened wide and a burst of flame so hot it was blue shot at Twilight. Her horn glowed again and the flame was stopped by a magical barrier. The shadow's mouth closed and Twilight dropped to the ground, magic spent. The creature approached her and took her up in its tail.  
>The only one who was left was Rarity, cowering on the picnic blanket.<br>And the shadow had no more appendages for gabbing. It opened its mouth, its red hot glowing mouth.  
>"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"<br>Then, Spike woke up. After staring blankly at the wall for about a minute, he rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "That couldn't... be real."  
>His hands dropped into his lap. "Naw." Spike turned to the window. There was bright mid-day light streaming through. Twilights bed was empty, the covers neatly tucked up around the pillow. There we voices coming through the door to the main atrium.<br>With a muffled yelp at the lateness, Spike threw off the blankets and tumbled out of the basket. He scrambled to the door and burst through.  
>"But like I was saying- oh, Spike, you're awake!" Twilight broke off her conversation with the 5 other ponies, the Elements of harmony. They all looked at Spike, and were luckily whole and hardy, unlike in a certain baby dragon's recent dream.<br>He swallowed "Um... what time is it?"  
>Pinkie Pie looked at her wrist (despite the obvious lack of watch) and answered: "It's nearly 12, silly! Were yooooouuuuuuu sleeeeeeeeping laaaaaaaaaaaaate?" (She giggled at her own wittiness here)<br>Spike groaned "Twilight! You were supposed to wake me up at 6!"  
>"Relax Spike, you were sick! The best thing when you are sick is rest. Speaking of, how are you feeling?"<br>"Better, thanks," muttered the dragon bitterly "I need to go eat breakfast- I mean lunch." He went back through the door he had just entered through.  
>"Oh my'" Whispered Fluttershy "Why is he so angry?"<br>Twilight smiled, a little sadly "He gets cranky if I forget to wake him up. Don't worry, Spike always feels better after he's had something to eat."  
>"Who cares?" Snorted Rainbow Dash, who wasn't much for sentimentality. "You were saying, Twilight?"<br>"Sorry Rainbow. Ahem. As I was saying, there have been... disappearances... in Ponyville. 5 ponies disappeared last night."  
>"Who was it? Asked Applejack.<br>"Bon Bon, Heartstrings, Golden Harvest, Derpy, and Doctor Whooves."  
>"What happened to them?" Gasped Fluttershy nervously<br>"I don't know yet, but I'm working on it'" Said Twilight "I just wanted to call you here to tell you to be on your guard."  
>The Six all nodded to each other, and as they left the library to go their separate ways, Twilight murmured "Be careful."<p>

Derpy Hooves opened her eyes. The world appeared slightly distorted, like a double image. All was as it should be there. Derpy frowned. Unfortunately, her surroundings were NOT as they should be.  
>It was a cave. This was defiantly not where Derpy had fallen asleep. Huge bars... no... Not bars, stalactites and stalagmites, connected in pillars of rock large enough to see through, but small enough to allow only that.<br>"She's awake!" A slightly nasal voice shouted. There was a clopping of hooves and Derpy was surrounded by 4 anxious faces. She recognized them as Bon Bon, Golden Harvest, Heartstrings, and Doctor Whooves.  
>"Oh... Wut happened?" She asked<br>"Um... we're not sure." Replied Bon Bon "We just woke up ourselves."  
>"It's definitely something bad though," supplied the Doctor "This sure is an interesting cage. I've never seen one like it! Well, not from the inside. And certainly not without-"<br>They never found out what the Doctor had or had not seen because a hiss from outside the cage silenced them. It sounded ancient, malign, and most importantly, angry. "Blight..." it hissed "Blight..."  
>"What is that?" Moaned Heartstrings. The ponies clustered together at the back of the cave.<br>"You... are... blight..."

"P goes before Q... so '_Practical Guide to Punctuation!_' goes before _'Quarter fold Techniques_'... There!" Spike stepped off the ladder and triumphantly surveyed the immaculate bookshelves. "Hoho, Twilight's gonna be so happy when she sees I cleaned the whole library!" His grin brightened when the door knob turned and Twilight came in.  
>"Hey, Twilight, guess-"<br>"Not now, Spike, I'm really busy. Have you seen my 'A Crime History of Canterlot?'"  
>"Yeh, I put in the A's because I-"<br>"Spike! You should know by now you ignore the little words like A or The!" She walked over to the section, pulled out the book, and began to flip through it. "Why was it over here anyway?"  
>"Because I-"<br>"Oh, here it is! Thanks Spike! Gotta dash!" She jogged out the door.  
>"-organized your library..." Spike finished lamely. "Oh... hmmm." He headed for the door now, preparing to go outside. Just when his diminutive claws were clasping the door, Spike felt a familiar sensation the pit of his stomach (or the region of his stomach. Letters came by way of the fire bladder.) A letter was coming.<br>It was best to just go with it when you were receiving a letter. The magical scrolls were never fun to upchuck, but that was one of the things Spike _did_.  
>With a hacking cough, a letter materialized in front of Spike in a blaze of green fire. A moment of recovery and Spike picked it up, ready to run out and try to catch Twilight before she got too far away. Then he saw who it was really too.<br>Printed in large, curling letters was the name _"Spike."_  
>"Wuh?" Curiously, Spike opened it (it was his mail after all) and this is what it said:<br>_Dear Spike,  
>There has been some... troubling news.<br>Dragons bestowed to some of the more gifted of my pupils, such as you were bestowed on Twilight, have reported to me strange dreams of their loved ones being captured or even destroyed by a shadowy, dragon-like figure. Have you had the same dreams? This will be troubling news if you had. Please reply with all haste.  
>Princess Celestia<em>  
>The letter dropped out of the tiny dragons unresisting hand. "So I wasn't the only one..." he looked up and the shelves and shuddered. This called for... research.<p>

When Twilight entered the library after a long day of fruitless searching for a kidnapper, she was, in a word, astonished, or so the loud smack as her jaw hid the ground would suggest. Spike was sitting by the libraries communal table, books pilled haphazardly around him, some in awkward positions or on the floor. He seemed to be intently focused on one of these books, although, his ear frills drooped a little with weariness. "And then..." he mumbled. Then his frills began to perk "Yeh, this must be it!"  
>"Spike?" Twilight said incredulously. The little dragon jumped and slammed the book shut. "What are you... what is... my books!"<br>"Twilight! I... uh... Research!"  
>"What about? It was so nice and orderly..."<br>"Dragons."  
>"Don't you know about dragons? You are one after all." Twilight began to pick up and reshelf some of the books in more damaging positions.<br>"Well... not facts, as such..." Spike eyed the door. "So... um... Twilight... how was your day?" He began to edge backwards.  
>The mare twitched. "Fine, thanks."<br>"Anything interesting about those disappearances?" Spike was only a few feet away now.  
>Twilight twitched again. Sighing, she turned. "Nothing helpful. But... there have been more."<br>Spike stopped. "More?"  
>"Yes. Licitly-Split and Vinyl Scratch in the last day. A town wide emergency has been issued."<br>"I..." Spike's hand left the door knob "...Will stay inside tonight."  
>Twilight smiled "Good. I care about your safety. Now, go to bed. You aren't completely over that cold yet."<br>When Twilight would check Spike's basket later that night, she would see it filled in the half shadow. She would also wonder why the window was open, despite the fact that Olowicious hadn't left that way.  
>What she wouldn't see is the blankets humped under Spikes covers, the open royal letter next to them, nor the dry trail leading through the evening dew.<p>

"Hello?" The cave was big. Spike was only a small, shaking shadow in its mouth. "Umm... anyone here? I'm looking for Claw-of-Iron?" All the trembling dragon heard was his own echo.  
>Then, suddenly, voice from the darkness; "Why do you seek him?"<br>Spike appeared to be about to blow away in the draft coming from the back of the cave. "I... I have some questions."  
>A huge head appeared out of the darkness "A ponies pet?"<br>"I have questions about dragons and our lore."  
>"Ah, a worthy cause. I will not kill you. Ask as you will."<br>"Well... OK... have you had any dreams?"  
>"Dreams? We are a dreaming race."<br>"About great black shadows leaping out of the grass and capturing you friends?"  
>"I have no friends to be captured. I have not had these dreams."<br>"Ok, um, would a dragon kidnap his enemies?"  
>"If he could."<br>"What for?"  
>The dragon brought his head close to Spike. "Even a pet like you should know we are hoarders by nature. Most of us have hoards of gold or silver or jewels. But the ultimate prize is one's enemies. To keep your nemesis hostage, to have them completely dependent on you, to laugh just out of reach, to make a fool of them, that is the true meaning of hoard."<br>"Ah."  
>"Is that all, Pet?"<br>"One more thing. Does 'blight' mean anything to you?"  
>At once, the beats pupils narrowed. It rose to its full height and brought its claws down so they were inches from Spike on either side. Spike gulped. No wonder this dragon was called 'Claw-Of-Iron.'<br>"They are blight to this land. It can no longer live without them. They must be exterminated." With this last word, the already thin pupils became mere lines in the deep yellow of the eye. The he blinked, and his eyes were returned to normal. "You have reached my limit pet, so leave before I kill you."  
>Spike, as was advised, turn tail and ran.<p>

A drip woke Vinyl scratch. It slid down her nose and pliped to the hard stone floor. "Hmm?"  
>"Misses Scratch?" A kind hand shook her shoulder.<br>Vinyl rolled over to see a group of ponies, all citizens of ponyville, but none she knew personally. "I swear, it wasn't my fault!"  
>"...What wasn't your fault?" Asked a cream colored mare.<br>"Oh... um... nothing." She changed the subject "Where am... are we?"  
>"Not sure," said a green pony. "The Doctor, Bon Bon, Derpy, and I got here yesterday, I think. It's hard to tell days in here."<br>"That's it huh? Just you four."  
>"Well, Licitly-Split got put in here with you. He's still out."<br>"What do you mean 'put?'" Vinyl felt fear course through her.  
>"Weeeeaaaall..." a brown colt drawled "We think there's something out there..."<br>"Like what!"  
>"Like... that."<br>A huge shadow lurked outside of the cage bars, just out of eyesight. Two gold eyes stared in at the captives. "Blight..."

"Spike! I'm going out!"  
>"M'kay!" Spike rolled over in bed as Twilight shouted to him from the door.<br>"Don't forget to mop the floor!"  
>"Alright! Bye Twilight!" Spike rolled over and made no attempt either to get up, or mop anything. He was going to sleep today.<br>And think. Think especially. Why had Claw-Of-Iron gone so weird when he had mentioned the word blight? And...  
>Spike never finished that thought, because he fell asleep.<br>It only seemed like a moment, as all deep sleeps do. Spike woke, abruptly to the opening of the library door and the thought of '!' The little dragon sprang out of bed with uncommon speed and dashed into the main library. He did not find Twilight.  
>"Applejack?"<br>"Hey shugarcube..." she grinned falsely  
>"Oh no... What is it? Is it about Twilight? The disappearances?"<br>Applejack knelt as best she could "Spike, Twilight's gown. She was suppos' to meet with me an' Rainbow, bu' she never showd up. I'm sorry."  
>"Where'd she go?"<br>"Well, thas wa' she was in-ves-ti-gatein. We reccen she found wa' she was lookin' for, bu' it found her first."  
>"Don't you know?"<br>"Sugercube, Twilight must ha' jus' found out. We don' know. Bu' we're doin' our best to find her."  
>"Oh..." Spike hung his head, not sure what to feel.<br>"You gonna be ok here on your own? You can come ba' to th' farm with me."  
>"No, that's ok Applejack."<br>"Ok... bu' be careful! I don' want whatever got Twilight gettin' you!"  
>"I'll be careful"<br>"Mhm." With a final glance back at the dejected dragon, Applejack left. As soon as Spike was sure she was out of earshot, Spike sat down hevily at the table. He needed a plan of action.  
>There was only one person who could help him now.<p>

"Wahahah! Rarity! She's GOOOOONNNNNEEEEEE!"  
>"There there Spike. We all miss Twilight, and we are doing all we can to get her back." Rarity did her best to pat Spike on the back and not get too bombarded by tears. "She's a clever, resourceful pony and won't let herself get kidnapped without a fight. In fact, she might have made her daring escape already."<br>"You think?" Spike unwrapped himself from Rarity's leg.  
>"Well, you know Twilight," The unicorn began.<br>"I knew it! She stayed to study them!" Spike collapsed again, and Rarity resumed her patting.  
>At that moment Rainbow Dash burst in shouting "Rarity! Have you seen AJ or Pinkie?"<br>"Hm? Well, no, not recently. What, they haven't..."  
>"I think they have. In fact, ponies have been disappearing like cider in the height of cider season. We're nearly the only ones left. I've put out the call for anyone left in ponyville to come to town hall."<br>"Well, we had better be going," Rarity said curtly. "Come on, Spike. To town hall!"  
>The streets were so empty, Spike half expected tumbleweeds to be rolling about as he, Rarity and Rainbow hurried down them. The town felt... dead. Dead and empty and alone.<br>The small crown around town hall just felt empty and alone. There were no more than a dozen ponies bar Rainbow, Rarity and Spike. They all had haunted, frightened looks.  
>"Ok," Rainbow took her place on the podium to address the small crowd "Is this everypony?"<br>"Yeh, its everypony," a pony shouted from the crowd. "Hey, elements, whatya gonna do about the kidnappings?"  
>"Yeh," another pony said "My sisters have been kidnapped. How do I know their ok?"<br>"Hold on, hold on," Rainbow attempted to sill the protests "We're workin' on that."  
>"Oh are you?"<br>"Yeh, we haven't seen anything."  
>"And while you're working, how do you know who'll be next?"<br>A hush fell over the group at this. Rarity cleared her through. "We don't know. We don't know who will be next. We don't know what happens to ponies. We don't even know why this is happening. But we are doing everything in our power, EVERYTHING, to see that you stay safe. The best thing, for now, is to stay here, in a group." There was silence in the small group after Rarity's speech. "So, intelligence in the masses, I've heard said, any ide-aaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiii!"  
>Rarity didn't finish her thought. She couldn't, because it turned into a scream.<br>The ground had opened up beneath her.  
>The earth ponies were the first to go. Their hooves scrambled ineffectually on the sides of the pit. Unicorns came after, their magic unable to hold up the ground under them. The pegisi lifted off, but even that couldn't save them. The grass, growing at an astonishing rate, lifted from the ground and twisted around their legs to bring them down.<br>Spike watched this whole thing from a completely normal pillar or rock, grass and dirt standing in the middle of the pit. In a daze, he watched the earth swallow the ponies.  
>"SPPPPIIIIIKKKKEEEEEEE!" Rarity's scream brought him back to life, and he saw her fall with the rest of the ponies.<br>"Nooooooo!" He jumped off the pillar of soil, stupidly attempting to follow Rarity, but he had come out of his stupor to late. The ground had healed into a scar ringed by new grass. "No..." Spike breathed in deeply through his nose. They had gone. Gone where?  
>Spike realized, then, he knew.<br>The earth does not open of its own volition and suck in its caretakers. Someone must be controlling it, and, despite all its flaws, research was helpful.

Spike ran his claws down the page. "No, no..." He had been searching all day, no luck. Every book on beast lore in the library had been searched, every paper, every story, every maretail (it had already been proved these had some truth to them) and nothing had been found. Spike dejectedly turned the page and came upon the next title.  
>"<em>The Sleeper<em>"  
>Unlikely, but Spike began to read anyway.<br>Apparently, long ago, there had been little or no ponies, and certainly no princesses, in Equestria. The land had been ruled by dragons (Spike allowed himself some pride here.) Among these dragons were there rulers, elementals of the sun, moon, earth, and sky.  
>Dragons lived in harmony with ponies and the rest of the world. One day that all changed when a dragon stole the child of a pony. Dragons and ponies began to feud, mostly over a dragons uncontrollable urge to nick things. Soon, the feuding began to tip in the ponies favor. Realizing that, if they keep fighting, they would get eradicated, the dragons made a hasty retreat. The four dragons rulers disappeared last, but when the spirit of earth left, she swore the land would take vengeance on all the ponies alive when she woke. "And then," Spike muttered "she woke up. Yeh, this must be it!"<br>"Spike?"

So, Spike knew what he was after. He knew why she was doing what she was doing. He could probably even figure out where she was. There was one enormously huge problem.  
>If he charged in bravely to save all his friends, there was an overwhelming chance he would die. Whatever kind of dragon the Sleeper was, she wasn't the nice kind who gives you tea and chats about family. No, Spike would probably become a small, interesting splat on the wall. Now, he really needed a plan...<p>

The cave mouth was smaller than Spike had expected, low ceilinged compared to the cavernous antechamber inside, but was large enough so beams of afternoon light made the perfect shadow in front of Spike, and his cape looked especially nice.  
>Being unable to create a fiendishly clever plan (Twilights job), Spike went the way he mentally labeled as 'Rainbow,' or 'bash in the front door and fight anyone in your way.' He had also decided to go 'Rainbow' in style. Spike had managed to dig out a satin green cape and a fake mustache from the recesses of the library, both of which he now wore.<br>It had not taken Spike long to find the cave. Somehow, he felt he knew where it was already. And here he was, ready to proudly declare his existence to the world.  
>"Um... hello?" He whispered in a Fluttershy whisper. And to Spike's surprise, something whispered back.<br>"Hello..."  
>Spike jumped and flailed about a little before landing in a karate pose. Then he realized it was only an echo. He cleared his throat, feeling silly and tried again. "Hello?"<br>"Hello." This time something really did answer back, right by Spikes ear. He whirled and stared into the face of The Sleeper.

Well, it would be wrong to say face. More like nostrils. She was so huge; Spike would only be a toothpick in huge yellow teeth. Spike gulped and took a step back. His gaze slid up the grey nose, over the evil yellow eyes, down the thick, rough neck. At this point, Spike had to look straight up, for she had been hanging above the mouth of the cave like some decoration, making it thin and small. Spike realized something here; The Sleeper's body was covered in thick, grey plating. At first, Spike had thought these unusual scales. Now, he realized it was solid stone, broken in places to allow movement. Under the stone were dull green-brown scales. Spike took another step back, which wasn't very helpful, considering The Sleeper was over him at all times. Her short, spiky arms and legs were digging into the rock right over him, her body large enough to cover the whole top of the cave entrance. Now that he looked, Spike could see a pair of wings shut tight along the body. A thick tail arched down the other side of the entrance.  
>"Ist thou done yet?" The Sleeper said amusedly. All Spike's courage failed him at that moment and he turned for the door. A huge stone clad wind slammed down in front of him, blocking the door. "I art not." She hissed. Spike ran.<br>It was stupid, he knew, but living didn't have room for stupidity now. Spike screamed shrilly and threw off his mustache and cape, hoping to go faster. A huge clawed hand reached out and scooped him up. "Little ones hath such short legs."  
>She was speaking an ancient form of the dragon language, but Spike could understand it. Since dragons didn't converse much, their language hadn't changed much.<br>"Now little one, why is it that thou art here? Certainly not to befriend me, with such an attitude."  
>Spike rallied himself "I'm here to get back my friends!"<br>"Thy friends?" She scoffed "These creatures are thy friends?"  
>"Yeh! They raised me!"<br>"I should put the out of thy misery." She began to raise the hand holding Spike to her mouth.  
>"No! Wait!" He screeched in a last ditch attempt "W-why do you hate ponies so much?"<br>The Sleeper lowered her hand and closed her mouth.  
>"A worthy question, young'un, though it be only to save the from my gullet. I shall answer.<br>A long time ago, the land lived on its own. Oh, do not get me wrong, we lived on the land, taking what we needed, nothing more. But that was a long, long time ago. I am one of the few relics left from that time. Now, it is gone.  
>There were ponies then too, but fewer then now. They lived in the same way, not coddling the land as they do now. They lived also fearless of us. But soon that would change, for the ponies would commit the ultimate crime.<br>They would steal a dragon's egg."  
>"Wait, wait. The book I read said the dragons stole a ponies foal."<br>"Beasts." The Sleeper spat "They would change history to suit themselves and look the heroes. I know the truth, for I twas' there.  
>Eggs are so precious. We females can only have one clutch every 5 years, and they are guarded like our hoard, maybe more closely. Anyone to breach a sacred trust like that deserves to be destroyed.<br>The deprived mother began to pillage and destroy looking for her egg. When she finally found it, it had hatched and was being raised by ponies. Worst of all, it didn't want to leave.  
>The mother went mad. She destroyed the town, every pony in it, and in the heat of the destruction, her own child. When she saw what she had done, she flew back to her cave to mourn.<br>But the ponies did not understand a dragons rage is all consuming. They assumed she had destroyed town on purpose, and came in the night with torches. The mother did the only thing she could. She ran.  
>With that, war broke out. We fought bitterly until we realized we could not win. The only course of action was a hasty retreat, an action we took. We flew to our caves, but still our enemies hunted us.<br>One day my three siblings and I decided to put an end to the fighting."  
>"Three siblings? Are you the spirits of sun, moon, earth and sky?"<br>"Where ever did the get that idea? Oh, yes thy story. Mayhaps we were remembered as that, but in truth, we were just normal dragons.  
>But my tale wanders. My siblings and I flew to the three leaders of the ponies. We pleaded with them to stop hunting us. The ponies did seem to believe we were some kind of leaders, now thy mention it. For three days and three nights we negotiated with them. On the fourth day, the three leaders came to us with their last plan. In return for peace, we would give them four eggs. My sister and I refused. Our eggs were precious. Our brothers, who have never had to bear egg, wanted to agree. Thus I stood the stalemate.<br>In the end, our brothers cut the deal. We were out voted 5-2. Along with the eggs, we agreed to go deep into the mountains, where we could not rear our ugly heads. My sister and I did not like this agreement. We had not from the beginning. But now we reached the final straw.  
>We thought we were prepared to do anything. But we weren't. Not our children. Not our children..." The Sleeper bowed her head, then continued.<br>"I could not bear to watch the ponies run their greasy little hooves over our children. I thank the gods my brothers held me back.  
>When the ponies were sure they had gotten what they wanted, we were escorted out and to the edges of the mountains.<br>As I looked down on the ponies "seeing us off" with stiff smiles on their faces, I broke.  
>I cursed them. I cursed them and their children for taking our land and our kin. I told them I would sleep, for to wake hurt too much, but I would wake and when I woke, if ponies had not repaid their debts to us a thousand fold, I would destroy them.<br>It was a stupid thing to do, but I do not regret a single word of that utterance.  
>So now you know I am making good on an ancient promise.<br>But it gets worse. When I wake, I find even fewer dragons then before and they have become stupid and complacent. I now know they have forgotten my curse in all but legend. And the worst offence; they have coddled the earth. Did you know winter and summer used to change on their own? Tis' true. Now there are only few places where the earth lives on its own.  
>You see my dilemma? I wish to destroy ponies, but I would be destroying my world too, for it is so dependent on them it cannot live without them."<br>Spike and the Sleeper stared at each other, green eyes to yellow eyes, for a long time. Then the Sleeper said; "I shall eat the now."  
>"WAITWAITWAITWAIT!" Stalled Spike "Ponies aren't that bad, you know."<br>"I must hear this." The Sleeper scoffed.  
>"Well..." Spike searched for evidence "They take care of you when you're sick."<br>"I have never had need for that."  
>"They help you when things go wrong."<br>"I would never accept the help of those tyrants."  
>"I... they... they're not as bad as you think. They love me like family, not a pet, and not a monster. I don't think they would ever do anything to hurt me, not intentionally anyway."<br>"Can the prove that, welly and truly? I know I cannot."  
>"Give me too them. You'll see."<br>The Sleeper contemplated him for a while. "Convince me, pet."  
>Without letting Spike go, she turned and walked into the dark of the cave. When the light from the entrance had all but vanished, they came to a large chamber. It might have been circular, but the back wall was cut off but a row of column-like stalactites and stalactites. A faint light, a magical floating Feylight, was shining out of the spaces between the columns.<br>"There they are. I shall be watching little one." Then, without warning, The Sleeper dropped him.  
>Spike screamed all the way down, and the moment he was sure he was going to splat on the floor, it opened beneath him. There was a moment of complete, silent, dark airlessness as the ground closed on top of Spike. That moment was more terrifying than a thousand Sleepers, but when Spike tried to cry again, there was dirt in his mouth and no air in his lungs.<br>Then it ended. He was brought out into the bright light (or at least it looked bright to Spike) again. He gasped and spat out soil and rocks.  
>"SPIKE!" Just as the little dragon got his breath back, it was squeezed out of him again by Twilight. "Spike, thank Celestia you're ok!" She let go and held her assistant as arms length "What happened?"<br>"I came to recue you guys, but-"  
>"The Sleeper got you?"<br>"You know about her?"  
>"I remembered her from one of my books."<br>"The books are wrong! They say a dragon stole a foal? It was the ponies that stole an egg." Spike now realized there was a large group of ponies around them, the citizens of ponyville. He addressed them as well. "Now she thinks they have to repay the debt. When she first went to sleep, she cursed to ponies and told them that if her debt wasn't repaid 1000 fold when she woke up, she would destroy them. Now, when she really does wake up, she finds out she's been forgotten and her debt hasn't been paid.  
>What she thinks is worse is you have, as she says 'coddled the earth' and if she destroyed you now, it would wither and die.<br>That's why she's keeping you here. She wants you to take care of the earth until it looses dependence on you."  
>"I... I didn't know." Whispered Twilight<br>"Can't blame you. No one would have known."  
>The other elements of harmony had appeared at the front of the crowd during Spikes speech. Rainbow, in her usual confrontery way, had to protest:<br>"This Sleeper wants to use us as slaves? No way am I goin' along with that."  
>"She just wants ponies to repay their debt..."<br>"An' what debt is that?" Asked Applejack  
>"Um..." Spike thought carefully, then said "Well, the original debt was 4 dragon eggs... so she probably wants 4 foals!"<br>There was complete, astounded silence for a moment. Then the sound came rushing back like a wave.  
>"NO!"<br>"Not our children!"  
>"Don't let her take them!"<br>Twilight shushed the protests "Calm down everyone!"  
>Rarity stepped up (Spike sighed with relief that she was okay) "Spike, that can't be true. Will she take anything else?"<br>"I don't think so. She's very... set in her ways."  
>"But we can't give them our foals." Protested a pony Spike knew as Rose "That would be..." she broke into tears and her sisters began patting her on the back.<br>Spike was surprised by the reaction. So what was a foal or two? It's not like they were his kids. But the ponies were taking it really hard. He shrugged. "I'm not sure what'll happen if you don't."  
>"We won't." Said Applejack solemnly. And that was final.<br>Silence reigned for another moment. Then a malicious chuckling echoed through the cave.  
>There were cries of "oh no!" And "she's back!"<br>Then The Sleeper said: "Little ponies, little blight... I am amazed. I thought thy twas' heartless creatures. Now I know.  
>It t'would be wrong to destroy the because the wish to protect thy children. But it t'would also be wrong to go back on my promise.<p>

So I shall let you go free and sleep again."  
>The huge columns shook and melted into the ground. The ponies were free, and they all rushed to the faint light at the end of the tunnel. Almost all of them.<br>"Some things, I believe shall never change." Sighed the Sleeper. "I know you wish something." She stepped into the circle of light cast by the single suspended Feylight.  
>The elements of harmony gasped at her rocky appearance and her immense size, but Twilight stepped forwards all the same. "Ma'am, why are you letting us go?"<br>"Why art thy staying? No, no. I shall explain to those brave enough to ask.  
>Thy know of the elements of harmony?"<br>"We inherited them!" Said Pinky proudly, fearless now "After Nightmere Moon smashed the last ones! She was all like KACHOW! And Twilight was all NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! And then she saw us and was all AHA! And SPARK! Then there was this HUGE RAINBOW FLASH OF AWESOME LIGHT! And we got the elements!"  
>"Laughter, I presume." Said The Sleeper "But thy should know, the elements do not travel in a form which they could be... smashed. Those are just focuses. And the elements are always the best of friends."<br>She smiled a little here, then continued,  
>"All dragons are... were taught the value of the elements. My life has not always called for harmony, so the elements have faded from me. I feel as if this time calls for harmony. Does that answer thy question?"<br>"Yes ma'am. I have another though. Why can you control the earth? I've never read about any dragons doing that."  
>"I have slept for an uncountable number of years. My thoughts, my feelings, my dreams have all leeched into the rock. It has become part of me and me part of it."<p>

Spike broke in here "home come had a dream about you?"

"My wakening was so powerfully magical that it sent out shockwaves out though the world. It probably affected my kin very much but magical ponies probably felt it as wall. Will thy leave now?"  
>"One more question." Twilight said "What are you going to do when you wake up again?"<br>"I will for fill my promise."  
>This statement was met with silence. Then the ponies filed out the long hallway to the exit. With a jolt Spike realized he had forgotten something.<br>"Sleeper?"  
>"Yes Pet?"<br>"What's your name?"  
>The Sleeper seemed to contemplate this for a moment then said; "I do not know. I do not know. I have slept for so long. So long the very rocks obey my thoughts. I have forgotten my name. It has been washed away in the ugly red remains of my past." She looked at Spike. "The Sleeper will do."<br>"Thank you... Sleeper."  
>Then they left, out into the bright light of day.<br>The great dragon sighed, her rock covered body thrown into sharp relief by the dying feylight. She glanced at it.

"I think I have the time."

Then she turned to the walls.  
>When then dragon, older then memory, older than the rocks, finally took her place curled up like and oddly shaped boulder in the middle of the floor, the last glimmer of the feylight showed carvings on the wall, the story of the Sleeper. The last one was a small dragon and six ponies.<br>With a sigh, the Sleeper reached up and snuffed out the light.


End file.
